By Patrick Z McGavin-Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
**Additional Photos may be viewed at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p805486661 **
HOFFMAN ESTATES—The familiar almost caught up to Edmond Ruth.
The defending champion at 174 pounds at the Ken Kraft Midlands, he faced down a familiar antagonist in the form of Penn’s Nick Incontrera.
“We wrestled three times last season, and once during the summer in a freestyle tournament,” he said.
“I know he just wants to get a win over me. During our match, I was just in my head too much, thinking this guy is going to give me a really good match, which he did.”
On a day where Ruth dominated the field, Incontera was his toughest competitor.
Ruth survived their semifinal match 2-1. He felt liberated by the path in front of him.
Ruth defended his title with a 13-4 major decision over Harvard’s Philip Coniglario at NOW Arena on Saturday, December 30, 2023.
Illinois finished fifth, and Northwestern was eighth in the 44-team field.
Penn captured the team title with 127.5 points. The Quakers had no individual champions. They won the team title with superior high end depth, with five Top-3 finishes, including runner-up finishes at 141 pounds with CJ Composto and 184 with Maximus Hale.
Founded by Ken Kraft, the legendary former coach and athletic director of Northwestern, the Midlands is one of the crown jewels of the collegiate season.
It typically draws many of the country’s top wrestlers.
After a two-year absence occasioned by the pandemic, the tournament returned in late December 2022 with a vengeance.
That year introduced a women’s tournament.
Naperville power North Central College dominated the field with 148 points.
The Cardinals had five individual champions and four runner-ups.
McKendree University finished second with 95.5 points. Aurora University, the top local competitor with North Central, was third with 64.5 points.
After fielding just three women athletes last year, the Spartans returned with a deeper team.
Aurora featured two top-3 finishers in Lexi Janiak at 130 pounds and Sydney Manos at 191 pounds.
Wrestlers like Janiak and Natasha Markoutsis underscore the explosive growth of the sport and the deep impact for Title IX, from the grassroots to high school and college.
Janiak and Markoutsis were part of the pioneering class that won the first girls’ state championships in Illinois history in March 2022.
Janiak was a star at Plainfield South who captured the 125-pound state championship and Markoutsis won the 130-pound state championship from Yorkville.
Now the two are the foundation for the new hope of the program at Aurora University.
Janiak was an All-American who finished second in the nationals last year in Cedar Rapids.
Markoutsis finished 30-11 her freshman season last year, with eight of those losses coming against All-Americans.
In the beautiful indoor architecture splendor and beauty of the arena at NOW, women like Janiak wrestled adjacent to the men.
The symbolism was not lost on her.
“My favorite part was not just the quality of the competition, but the exposure our sport received just being there,” Janiak said.
“We were side by side with some of the most prestigious Division I men’s programs, and we gathered eyes from people who wouldn’t be watching otherwise.”
When Janiak took a break to talk with her father in the stands, two men seated behind him sought her out, and asked about the rules.
“I felt a sense of profile as the sport was peaking the interest of people who didn’t even know women could wrestle.”
Markoutsis went 2-2 and did not place. The experience proved vital to her growth and development.
“Having a full team this year made the tournament so much more enjoyable,” she said.
“It was really cool seeing a bunch of women at different experience levels there. There were college, unattached club wrestlers and even some really talented high schoolers going for first place.”
One of the dominant motifs of the men’s championships was the returning conquering heroes.
In virtually every weight class, former Illinois high school wrestlers returned to showcase their talents and underscore the elite depth of the state.
Michigan’s Dylan Ragusin, a four-time state finalist who won two individual state championships at Montini, captured the 133-pound title with the 4-1 decision over Rutgers’ Dylan Shawver.
Wisconsin’s Dean Hamiti, a three-time state champion at Joliet Catholic, posted the 12-0 major over West Virginia’s Peyton Hall in the 165-pound championship.
Northwestern’s Trevor Chumbley, a two-time state champion at Marmion, finished second to Arizona State’s Jacobi Teemer in the 157-pound championship.
A Lehigh transfer who grew up in Harrisburg, PA., Ruth is one of just five wrestlers from outside of the state.
Dany Pucino, a redshirt sophomore who had two top-3 state finishes at Libertyville, was fourth at 141 pounds.
“Last year I finished seventh, so I improved quite a bit,” Pucino said. “I grew up watching this tournament my whole life. It was the coolest tournament. I always thought to myself how I couldn’t imagine wrestling in this tournament one day.
“It was great to be out there in the placing round. Outside of the nationals and the Cliff Keen tournament in Las Vegas, I think it’s the hardest college tournament. If you looked at my bracket, it had multiple NCAA national qualifiers and All-Americans.”
Illinois freshman Kannon Webster won three individual state championships at Washington, and also powered the Panthers to the Class 2A dual team state championship last March.
He is one of several precocious talents who has made the leap immediately from high school to major college wrestling. Webster finished third at 149 pounds.
He went 6-1 over the two days.
“My coaches have been preparing me for the last couple of months to compete at this level,” Webster said. “I knew how reputable the tournament was, and our coaches were pretty adamant about this was a chance to go out and prove yourself against some of the toughest guys in the country.”
Webster registered three major decisions.
“I think Illinois high school wrestling is one of the best states to grow up in,” Webster said. “All of our high school kids are making the transition up to the next level and doing really well.”
Illinois freshman Chris Moore, who won state championships at both Aurora Christian and McHenry, finished sixth at 165 pounds.
Luke Luffman, a redshirt junior who won two state championships at Urbana, was the runner-up at 285 pounds, losing a narrow 2-1 decision against North Carolina State’s Issac Trumble.
Will Baysinger, a two-time state runner-up at Prospect, wrestled unattached at 141 pounds in order to preserve his redshirt freshman season at Illinois.
He went 1-2, suffering two tight losses. The experience was one he could never republicate. He knows the repercussions for his future.
“As soon as I found out I was going, I was really excited because there are a limited number of slots for unattached wrestlers,” he said. “It was right by my hometown, and a lot of my friends and family got to come and watch.
“Maybe the tournament didn’t go the best for me the first time, I have many more years there, and it was great to scrap there.”
The results by weight class of the championship matches at Ken KRaft Midlands—
Women’s Division
101–Madison Nieuwenhuis (unattached) over Madison Avila (North Central) Fall 5:20
3rd—Lizette Rodriguez (McKendree)
4th—Genesis Ramirez (Aurora)
5th—Lisa Pastoriza (Wyoming Seminary)
109–Kayla Batres (unattached) over Kaelanni Shufeldt (Lock Haven) 4-2 decision
3rd—Rianne Murphy (Wyoming Seminary)
4th—Taylor Whiting (Team Nazar)
5th—Natalie Majer (unattached)
116–Sydney Petzinger (North Central) over Clare Booe (Wyoming Seminary) Fall 1:13
3rd—Janesssa George (North Central)
4th—Julia Vidallon (McKendree)
5th—Salyna Shotwell (McKendree)
123–Amani Jones (North Central) over Carissa Quereshi Fall 2:04
3rd—Shelby Moore (McKendree)
4th—Alyssa Mahan (Presbyterian College)
5th—Emma Bacon (Wyoming Seminary)
130–Taina Fernandez (unattached) over Salome Walker (North Central) TF 10-0
3rd—Alexis Janiak (Aurora)
4th—Nichole Moore (McKendree)
5th—Haley Vann (North Central)
136–Marisol Nugent (Sunkist Kids) over Taylor Graveman (North Central) Fall 2:29
3rd—Alondra Morales (North Central)
4th—Niya Teresita Gaines (North Central)
5th—Sydney Park (North Central)
143–Viktorya Torres (McKendree) over Alex Gomez (Gomez RTC) Decision 7-4
3rd—Maddie Hayden (unattached)
4th—Sarina Bertram (North Central)
5th—Antonia Phillips (Aurora)
155–Tiera Jimerson (North Central) over Noelle Gaffney (Northern Michigan) Decision 3-2
3rd—Maddie Hayden (unattached)
4th—Sarina Bertram (North Central)
5th—Antonia Phillips (Aurora)
170–Helena Makoyed (North Central) over Henlee Haynes (Presbyterian College) TF 10-0
3rd—Jade Herezer (Wisconsin-Stevens Point)
4th—Fiona McConnell (North Central)
5th—Tabitha Breitrick (Wisconsin-Stevens Point)
191–Traeh Haynes (North Central) over Caroline Ward (North Central) Dec. 10-2
3rd—Sydney Manos (Aurora)
4th—Brooke Huffman (Team Nazar)
5th—Logan Ryan (Albion)
Men’s Division
125–Luke Stanich (Lehigh) over Elijah Griffin (California Baptist) TB-1 8-7
3rd—Eric Barnett (Wisconsin)
4th—Cooper Flynn (Virginia Tech)
5th—Diego Sotelo (Harvard)
133–Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) over Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) Dec. 4-1
3rd—Zeth Romney (Cal Poly)
4th—Michael Colaiocco (Penn)
5th—Sam Latona (Virginia Tech)
141–Jordan Titus (West Virginia) over CJ Composto (Penn) TF 18-3
3rd—Tom Crook (Virginia Tech)
4th—Danny Pucino (Illinois)
5th—Jordan Hamdan (Michigan State)
149–Ty Whalen (unattached) over Ty Watters (West Virginia) Dec. 5-1
3rd—Kannon Webster (Illinois)
4th—Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan)
5th—Cross Wasilewski (Penn RTC)
157–Jacobi Teemer (Arizona State) over Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) Dec. 11-6
3rd—Lucas Revano (Penn)
4th—DJ McGee (George Mason)
5th—Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan)
165–Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) over Peyton Hall (West Virginia) MD 12-0
3rd—Beau Mantanona (Michigan)
4th—Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern)
5th—Caleb Fish (Michigan State)
174–Edmond Ruth (Illinois) over Philip Coniglario (Harvard) MD 13-4
3rd—Nick Incontrera (Penn)
4th—Max Maylor (Wisconsin)
5th—Brody Conley (West Virginia)
184–Shane Liegel (Wisconsin) over Maximus Hale (Penn) SV-1 9-6
3rd—Neil Antrassian (Penn RTC)
4th—Cody Howard (Virginia Tech)
5th—James Conway (Franklin & Marshall)
197–Michael Beard (Lehigh) over Luke Stout (Princeton) TF 15-0
3rd—Cole Urbas (Penn)
4th—JT Davis (Lehigh)
5th—Andy Smith (Virginia Tech)
285–Issac Trimble (North Carolina State) over Luke Luffman (Illinois) Dec. 2-1
3rd—Jimmy Mullen (Virginia Tech)
4th—Jacob Bullock (Indiana)
5th—Daulton Mayer (Thomas More)
